


Radiator

by yeaka



Category: Red Riding Hood (2011)
Genre: F/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 12:01:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20873882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Valerie does Peter’s job.





	Radiator

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Red Riding Hood or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

Maybe she really is a witch. When the hulking beast crashes through the forest, bursting through the trees like a living nightmare, she doesn’t feel a single stitch of fear. Her skin does prickle, her heart racing, but that’s pure anticipation. She shrugs her head back, letting the red hood tumble to her shoulders, giving her more room to see. She watches him stalk forward, feral and snarling. 

Valerie drinks her fill of the sight, then turns back to the log and swiftly brings her axe down. The small chunk of wood shatters down the middle, loudly clattering off its perch and over into the snow. She reaches for the next log and sets it into place. 

He transforms barely a meter from her. In her peripherals, she sees his claws shrink back into fingers, his fur flattening into his skin, his razor-sharp teeth dulling and shrinking. By the time he reaches her, he’s all _man_, but he still reeks of _wolf._ He tells her, “That’s my job.”

“Not anymore,” she answers. The axe falls again, splintering the log. She fetches the next one. “You were gone too long, and our fire’s empty.”

He grunts, “I was hunting,” as though that’s any excuse. She knows why he was gone, and she knew he was coming back, that he would as soon as he was finished—he’s never gone for more than a day, but sometimes even that’s _too_ long. He hasn’t brought anything with him—usually he carries it home in his massive jaw and drops the carcass at her door. Either his hunt was unsuccessful, or he means to go back for it with human tools. Either way, food isn’t her concern. Heat is. Winter in the woods is a brutal affair, and none of her dresses are thick enough to combat the frigid ice that coats all their walls. Her cloak only does so much. She cleaves another log in two.

“Let me—” he starts, reaching for the axe, but she dodges out of his way. He takes another step towards her, eyes gleaming at her coy smile. She doesn’t need any man to chop her wood for her. He clicks his tongue and retries, “Valerie, I’m sorry. The time got away from me.”

And she could manage. But she didn’t want to. She tells him in no uncertain terms, “I was _cold_, Peter. Someone has to feed the fire.”

A grin twitches into place. He moves quicker this time, employing those superhuman skills she still can’t _quite_ keep up with. His fingers lock around her wrist before she can move away. Holding her captive in his fierce grip, he growls, “Let me warm you up.”

Valerie doesn’t answer in words. She lifts her chin, lips parting, eyes on his mouth as he moves towards her. Then his fingers are in her hair, sweeping it back and pulling her closer. She crashes into him with a quickly swallowed gasp. 

He doesn’t just kiss her—he _devours_ her. His tongue dives into her mouth and curls deep, his arm twisting around her waist and tugging her against him. He flattens them together so tightly that it becomes difficult to breathe—she gasps into his mouth and clings to his shoulders. 

She already feels warmer. His body’s like a furnace, always burning. She drops the axe and lets it disappear into the snow. 

He bends down to scoop her up, hikes her into his arms, and carries her back to their home, where he keeps her _very_ warm.


End file.
